New features in "--install" in Windows 11 22H2

[NotTheDr01ds]

Just upgraded to Windows 11 22H2 (22621) and noticing that, if you don't have WSL installed, the wsl --install command has some (nice) new options that weren't available in previous releases, including:

• The big one is that it now installs the latest Preview that is available in the Microsoft Store (currently 0.66.2) by default

• The --inbox option will install the "Windows Subsystem for Linux" Windows Feature instead of the Store version. This is the same release of WSL that came with Windows 11 21H2 (22000).

• --no-distribution allows you to install the VMP and WSL without installing a distribution in the same step.

• --no-launch skips the distribution launch after installation. I'm assuming this is not needed if you use --no-distribution.

• --web-download: Haven't tried this yet to see if the version installed differs, or just the installation mechanism ...

• --enable-wsl1: Installs WSL1. If you install the Store version without this option (the default now), then only WSL2 will be enabled. Attempting to use WSL1 or run a (previously installed) WSL1 distribution will result in:

  WSL1 is not supported with your current machine configuration.
  Please enable the "Windows Subsystem for Linux" optional component to use WSL1.
  Error code: Wsl/Service/CreateInstance/WSL_E_WSL1_NOT_SUPPORTED
  

Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Usage: wsl.exe [Argument]

Arguments:

    --install <Options>
        Install Windows Subsystem for Linux features. If no options are specified,
        the recommended features will be installed along with the default distribution.

        To view the default distribution as well as a list of other valid distributions,
        use 'wsl --list --online'.

        Options:
            --distribution, -d [Argument]
                Specifies the distribution to be downloaded and installed by name.

                Arguments:
                    A valid distribution name (not case sensitive).

                Examples:
                    wsl --install -d Ubuntu
                    wsl --install --distribution Debian

            --inbox
                Install the optional Windows feature instead of the version available via the Microsoft Store.

            --enable-wsl1
                Enable WSL1 support with the Microsoft Store version.

            --no-distribution
                Do not install a distribution (cannot be used with --distribution).

            --no-launch, -n
                Do not launch the distribution after install.

            --web-download
                Download the most recent version of WSL from the internet instead of the Microsoft Store.

    --list, -l [Options]
        Lists distributions.

        Options:
            --online, -o
                Displays a list of available distributions for install with 'wsl --install'.

    --status
        Show the status of Windows Subsystem for Linux.

    --help
        Display usage information.

---

For comparison, here's the older Windows 11 (22000) help text:

Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Usage: wsl.exe [Argument]

Arguments:

    --install <Options>
        Install Windows Subsystem for Linux features. If no options are specified,
        the recommended features will be installed along with the default distribution.

        To view the default distribution as well as a list of other valid distributions,
        use 'wsl --list --online'.

        Options:
            --distribution, -d [Argument]
                Specifies the distribution to be downloaded and installed by name.

                Arguments:
                    A valid distribution name (not case sensitive).

                Examples:
                    wsl --install -d Ubuntu
                    wsl --install --distribution Debian

    --list, -l [Options]
        Lists distributions.

        Options:
            --online, -o
                Displays a list of available distributions for install with 'wsl --install'.

    --status
        Show the status of Windows Subsystem for Linux.

    --help
        Display usage information.